Want to know more about me? Boy, will you be sorry you asked. Read on at your own risk...
Business ties
I'd like to have some.
Seriously, I have held four jobs in my life, and two of the businesses concerned are now out of business (though not, I hasten to add, through any fault of my own). I spent almost fifteen years working for a McDonald's franchise as a manager, and a couple of years afterward at an independent bookstore in Ventura, California that is no longer in operation. I helped out a friend of mine who owned a coffeehouse in Ventura known as the Cafe Voltaire, which is also defunct. Finally, after graduation from UC Santa Barbara, I took a position with J.D. Power and Associates, which shortly after my hiring was purchased in its entirety by The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Please note that this is a personal blog, and the opinions expressed herein are solely mine, in no way reflecting the views of my employers, past or present.
Media ties
Again, I'd like to have some. I have written two op-ed pieces since 1999 that were published by the Ventura County Star, but otherwise I have no media connections whatsoever. I do have friends who have worked in the radio industry, both as on-air talent and as technical personnel.
Stocks
My vast financial empire consists mostly of my 401(k), which is invested in mutual funds that include both U.S. and foreign stocks. I also own stock in McDonald's Corporation, which has performed at least as well as any of my 401(k) funds, and with less overhead. My last investment in it was well over ten years ago, and I have been the beneficiary of several stock splits.
Religion
I was born to a Mormon father and a Presbyterian mother, who could not agree on which religion to raise me in, and so naturally I was sent for religious education to the local Lutheran (!) church, although I was never baptized or confirmed. I entered the Baha'i Faith as an adult, and spent eight years there, serving on two Local Spiritual Assemblies before ultimately leaving because I could no longer in good conscience assent to some of its core teachings. In April 2008, on Lazarus Saturday, I was baptized and chrismated into the (Eastern) Orthodox Church at a parish of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. I currently attend a parish of the Orthodox Church in America, which was granted independence (autocephaly, in Orthodox terms) by and from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1970 (Orthodox is Orthodox, whatever the ethnic affiliation may be). I also serve on the parish council.
Although I am an Orthodox Christian, Mormonism is part of my heritage, and I am a great admirer of the humanitarian and welfare programs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They're doing what all Christians should be doing, in my opinion, and with very little overhead. As a matter of fact, I like Mormons in general (although I disagree with them theologically), and wish I could have met Gordon B. Hinckley before he died. David O. McKay too, for that matter. I think that the Mormon contribution to the development of the American West is generally unappreciated and vastly under-studied. And yes, I have read the Book of Mormon, cover to cover.
Education
I am a product of the once-great California public school system. I graduated from Westlake High School in 1983, and attended CSU Northridge and Ventura College before ultimately graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 2003 with a B.A. in History, with Highest Honors and Distinction in the Major. Along the way, I studied French, German and Russian, and maintain a passing familiarity with all three that stops well short of fluency. The main focus of my academic work was a combination of European history of the twentieth century and Cold War history; my proseminar paper (essentially a senior thesis) examined the anti-Semitism of Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s and 1940s. It was on the strength of this paper, which was reviewed by multiple faculty, that I earned Distinction in the Major. As far as I am aware, I am the first--and so far, the only--undergraduate student in the UCSB History Department ever to earn it in this way instead of through participation in the Honors Seminar.
As an avocation, I am interested in automotive history, postwar German history, Soviet history, and Mormon history. My current obsession is the automotive industry of the Soviet bloc and the People's Republic of China (pre-Deng Xiaoping era).
Politics
I consider myself to be a centrist, with leanings to both right and left depending on the subject at hand. I believe that neither of the major political parties adequately represents my point of view, nor do they do a very good job of representing the essential interests of the American people. I would like to see a greater role for third parties in American politics, which I believe would go a long way towards alleviating the partisan gridlock in Washington by necessitating the formation of coalitions. At various times I have been registered to vote in both parties; in recent years I have tended to favor the Democrats, although I disagree with them on several issues. Nevertheless, I voted for Barack Obama. Although I am the descendant of a long line of New England and Midwestern Republicans, I believe the GOP has gone completely off the rails (I agree with most, though not all, of what Charles Johnson wrote here), and it no longer represents any strain of Republicanism that I can recognize as my heritage. Consistent with California law, which does not require party affiliation, my party preference is currently listed as "Decline to State."
I am in favor of abolishing, or at least greatly restricting, the use of the referendum and initiative in California. I believe the California state constitution needs to be completely rewritten, and I support a constitutional convention to accomplish that goal.
In the bigger picture, I am a fan of the Westminster model of parliamentary government as practiced in Britain and many of its former possessions such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. I am under no illusion that it will ever be practiced in the United States.
I am strongly in favor of the separation of church and state, but not to the point of silliness--I have no problem with Christmas trees, menorahs, or Eid celebrations on public land. I support Israel's right to exist, the right of Palestinians to a state of their own, and believe we should engage diplomatically with all nations, even the ones who hate us, including Iran and North Korea. I am in favor of normalizing relations with Cuba. I initially supported the war in Iraq, and later came to believe it was a mistake. I continued to support the war in Afghanistan long after I stopped supporting the Iraq war, but now believe it is probably unwinnable. I think Hamid Karzai looks more and more like Ngo Dinh Diem every day, and we had better find a way to quarantine the place before the Taliban take control and start giving shelter to al-Qaeda again (which I believe they will). Afghanistan, after all, is the graveyard of empires.
On social issues: I am pro-life, although I do not believe the issue of abortion will ever be resolved by political means. Barring significant constitutional changes, I think legalization of gay marriage is likely inevitable. I opposed Proposition 8. I believe that we live in a secular republic whose laws will sometimes contradict religious teachings, and unless we want to live in a theocracy (I don't) we have to accept that. I believe medical care is a fundamental human right. I am not a laissez-faire capitalist; I believe that government can and should play a significant role in restraining the excesses of corporate greed, and I am in favor of single-payer health care reform. I support equal pay for equal work, and workers' rights to unionize. I think there should be an upper limit on executive compensation. I oppose state lotteries and legalized gambling. I can't stand the smell of marijuana smoke, but think it should be legalized and taxed. I am opposed to drug abuse, but believe the war on drugs is a failure, and should be ended.
On science and technology: I support the manned space program. I believe humanity's destiny is in space, and am in favor of a manned mission to Mars. I still believe that science can make our lives better, but it must be applied with wisdom. I support the teaching of evolution, and oppose efforts to introduce creationism into the science curriculum. I am strongly in favor of net neutrality, and support free speech online.
Miscellaneous
I can use a PC, but I prefer a Mac. I think Linux is great fun if you like fiddling with things, but am no longer interested in using it myself. I love automobiles, and think the pinnacle of automotive design was reached in Europe about 1967, after which it was downhill all the way. I have an irrational love of the Saab 96, the Citroën DS21, the Tatra 603, and, God help me, the Fiat 850 Spider. I quit smoking and drinking more than ten years ago, but I love coffee, particularly African varieties. Although I am an American, I prefer using the metric system, and wish the U.S. would just switch and get it over with. In addition to the languages I formally studied in high school and college, I also informally studied Esperanto and like it a great deal, even though the correlatives drive me nuts. My favorite cities, in no particular order, include San Francisco, Santa Fe, Vancouver, Berlin, Hamburg, and Amsterdam, and I have an ongoing and longstanding love affair with the American Southwest, especially New Mexico.
That should just about cover it. Any questions? Contact me!
